Page 177 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

A FINE OTTOMAN QUR'AN JUZ” WITH COURT WORKSHOP ILLUMINATION
θ 154
AN ILLUMINATED QUR'AN JUZ' XXX
SIGNED HAFIZ MUHAMMAD AL-WAFA, OTTOMAN TURKEY, DATED
AH 1231/1815-16 AD
Followed by Qur'an I, sura al-fatiha, Arabic manuscript on paper, 28ff. plus
three flyleaves, 9ll. of elegant black naskh, gold and polychrome rosette
verse markers, sura headings in white thuluth on gold ground within gold
and polychrome illuminated cartouches, text within thick black-ruled gold
frame, catchwords, opening bifolio with lavish polychrome and gold rococo-
style illuminated margins and headpiece, colophon signed and dated, in
contemporaneous brown morocco decorated with gilt floral meander and
tooled borders, blue paper doublures painted with gilt decoration, minor
marginal repairs, overall good condition
Text panel 5¾ x 3½in. (14.4 x 8.7cm.); folio 9¡ x 6¼in. (23.8 x 15.7cm.)
£25,000-35,000 US$29,000-40,000
€29,000-40,000

PROVENANCE:
The Saeed Motamed Collection
The fine rococo-style illumination of this manuscript is closely comparable to
the Alif-Ba Mufredat now in the Topkapi Palace Library (inv.no.TSM.EH436,
published in Nurhan Atasoy, A Garden for the Sultan: Gardens and Flowers in
the Ottoman Culture, 2002, pp.190-1). There is an unmistakable resemblance
between the treatment of the floral vases in both manuscripts which strongly
suggests that they were illuminated by the same artist or, at the very least,
artists working in the same court workshop.
The fine illumination of this manuscript is complemented by the elegant
naskh script. The scribe, Mehmet al-Wafa was known as Hisari, born in the
Hisar district of Istanbul, and was active during the reign of Sultan Mahmud
II (r.1808-1839). His mastery of the script has been praised by Ottoman
historian Habib Efendi who applauds him as “the leader of calligraphers of
his age…” [asrında hattat-ı piş-kadem…] (Habib Efendi, Khatt u Khattatan,
Matbaa-i Ebuzziya, Kostantiniyye, AH 1305/1887 AD, p.179).

174 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 175
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.